Nice idea to share this - better yet
we should share fixed apps, with screenshots etc. Regarding free apps there should be no problem, at least not moral problem, right?
Any idea where to host patched apk's with tutorial what was changed and pictures?
Simple tutorial how I do it:
0. Prerequisite: AndroidStudio and ability to compile/run/understand any very simple hello world example app. The tools which comes with it are needed, plus you need the very basic understanding of an apk resources.
1. Download apktool
https://ibotpeaches.github.io/Apktool/
2. Install it on your system
3. Use apktool on the desired apk to disassemble it
apktool d your.apk- you should not be interested in reading/understanding smali files but if you do, check also smaliidea plugin to be able to debug your changes in smali files
https://github.com/JesusFreke/smali/wiki/smalidea
4. Modify icons and colors - usually you will find all color constants used by the app in colors.xml file (res\values\colors.xml)
5. Use apktool to build apk from the unpacked an modified folder
apktool b yourFolder
6. Sign the apk
https://support.symantec.com/en_US/a...WTO124063.html
7. The app your_signed.apk is ready to be installed
adb install your_signed.apk or copy it to sd card and execute in the device to install it
You may actually want smalidea plugin to be able to preview your layout/color changes in the AndroidStudio designer view
For step #6 make sure the unsigned apk name does not contain spaces if you want to use the shell script downloaded from the web - it has a bug, does not handle names like "your tool 2.apk"